Equities market rises 42% year-on-year in January

<strong>Nigeria’s equities market recorded a 42 per cent increase in trading activity in January on a year-on-year basis.

This is in spite of a sharp decline in transactions compared to the previous month.

Data from Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) showed that total transactions rose to N862 billion in January against N607.1 billion recorded within the same period in 2025.

However, on a month-on-month basis, trading activity dropped significantly by 37.55 per cent from N1.38 trillion posted in December 2025.

This reflected reduced participation across both domestic and foreign segments of the market.

The report indicated that domestic investors continued to dominate market activities, accounting for about 86.8 per cent of total transactions, while foreign investors contributed 13.2 per cent.

Domestic transactions stood at N747.8 billion, compared to N114.1 billion recorded by foreign investors during the review period.

Further analysis revealed that domestic transactions declined by 18.92 per cent from N922 billion in December 2025 to N747.8 billion in January.

Foreign transactions, however, recorded a sharper drop of 75.08 per cent, falling from N458 billion in December to N114 billion in January.

NGX attributed the significant decline in foreign participation to the absence of large block trades that boosted transaction volumes in December 2025.

Within the domestic segment, institutional investors slightly outperformed retail investors, with transactions valued at N388 billion, representing a 35.73 per cent decline from N604 billion recorded in December.

Meanwhile, retail investors’ recorded increased activity, as transactions rose by 12.92 per cent to N360 billion in January from N317 billion in the preceding month.

This indicated improved participation by individual investors.